<p>Russian troops stationed in Syria will start withdrawing following an announcement from President Vladimir Putin that their work in the country is largely done. ;  ;</p>
<p>Putin paid a surprise visit to the Hmeymim air base in Syria on Monday to share the good news with Russian forces and to speak with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The visit comes just two weeks after Putin met with Assad in Sochi. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;In just over two years, Russia&rsquo;s armed forces and the Syrian army have defeated the most battle-hardened group of international terrorists,&rdquo; Putin told Russian troops. ;</p>
<p>Russia&rsquo;s ;involvement in the Syrian civil war began in September 2015 and consisted mostly of airstrikes. ;These efforts played a crucial role in tilting the balance of power back in Assad&rsquo;s favor. Russia has consistently denied attacking anyone but ISIS in Syria, but several sources insist Russian airstrikes targeted rebel fighters and civilians. ;</p>
<p>The Russian President made it clear that while a &ldquo;significant part&rdquo; of the Russian force will be leaving Syria, Moscow will maintain a permanent military presence that will be strong enough to destroy any comeback from ISIS. ;</p>
<p>Now that ISIS has been defeated in Syria (and Iraq), ;Putin wants to help Assad broker a peace deal. &ldquo;The conditions for a political solution under the auspices of the United Nations have been created. The Motherland awaits you,&rdquo; said Putin. ;</p>
<p>From Syria, Putin flew to Egypt to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, where he announced that direct flights between the two countries would resume. Flights had been suspended for more than two years following an incident in 2015 when a Russian passenger jet was shot down as it flew from Egypt to Russia. All 224 passengers died. ;</p>
<p>Putin met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday night. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Putin is keen to leverage the heightened Middle East influence that Syria has given him to cast himself as a leader who can do diplomacy as well as military force,&rdquo; reports <em>Reuters. ;</em></p>
<p><strong>Skepticism ;</strong></p>
<p>The White House was careful to take Putin&#8217;s announcement with a grain of salt. &ldquo;Russian comments about removal of their forces do not often correspond with actual troop reductions and do not affect US priorities in Syria,&#8221; said ;the Pentagon. ;</p>
<p>Putin made a similar statement about withdrawing troops in 2016, but Russian military operations continued. ; ;</p>
<p>Others are concerned the big announcement is more about Russian politics than anything else. Putin&rsquo;s declaration of victory in Syria comes less than a week after he announced he would be standing for re-election in March. The win in Syria will likely appeal to the patriotism of Russian voters, who are expected to elect Putin by a comfortable margin. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The most significant contribution Russia can make to advancing peace in Syria is to pressure the Assad regime to engage seriously in Geneva [peace talks]. Absent that, the suspicion will be that this announcement may have more to do with Russian politics than the Syrian situation,&rdquo; said a European diplomat who declined to be named. ;</p>